About this poster

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Panel information
Panel 5. Identity

Abstract

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Latinx youth in the U.S. are developing within a sociohistorical context that is characterized by ethno-racial marginalization (Umaña-Taylor & Rivas-Drake, 2021). Furthermore, youth may learn about ethnic-racial marginalization through their personal experiences of online ethnic-racial discrimination, which increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the socialization messages from family members that prepare them to encounter and adapt to ethnicity and race-related discrimination (Ayón et al., 2020; Tao & Fisher, 2021). Although prior work has revealed the negative implications that online discrimination has on youths’ adjustment (Tynes et al., 2020), and how preparation for bias messages inform youths’ ethnic-racial identity (ERI; Ayón et al., 2020), it is also possible that these experiences enable youth to think about how persistent social inequities inform their life (i.e., critical reflection), and may empower them to seek change that dismantles systems of oppression (i.e., critical motivation), which are important components of critical consciousness (Matthews et al., 2020; Watts et al., 2011). Furthermore, the process through which discrimination and preparation bias messages inform youths’ critical consciousness may be particularly salient among youth who have developed an informed understanding of their ethnic-racial identity via their own exploration (i.e., ERI achievement), given that these youth have a sense of self-assuredness and cultural knowledge that motivates them to address the disparities that affect their ethnic-racial group (Matthews et al., 2020; Umaña-Taylor, 2016). In addition, youths’ social group memberships inform their self-concept; therefore, youth with a more positive perception of their ethnic-racial group may also want to further understand and support the societal advancement of their ethnic-racial group because this would also positively inform their self-perception (Umaña-Taylor, 2016). To understand the associations between youths’ ethnic-racial discrimination, critical consciousness, and ERI, the current study examined whether a) Latinx youths’ experiences of ethnic-racial discrimination and preparation for bias messages informed two components of critical consciousness (i.e., critical motivation and critical reflection) and b) the extent to which ERI achievement and affirmation modified associations between environmental stressors and critical consciousness.

The sample consisted of 293 Latinx adolescents who were approximately 13 years old (SD =1.41; 95% U.S.-born; 51% male) in the U.S. Southwest, and data were collected during the Covid-19 pandemic. Adolescents completed survey measures assessing ERI achievement (composite of exploration and resolution) and affirmation (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2004), critical consciousness components (Dimer et al., 2020), preparation for bias (Hughes & Johnson, 2001), and online ethnic-racial discrimination (Tynes et al., 2010). All measures demonstrated adequate internal consistency (α’s >.79). Adolescents’ age was included as a covariate in all analyses.

Analyses were conducted using path analyses in Mplus (Muthén & Muthén, 2017), and models were conducted separately for ERI achievement and affirmation. Results for Model 1 suggested that online discrimination and preparation for bias were positively associated with youths’ critical reflection; ERI achievement was positively associated with critical motivation (Figure 1a). Similar results emerged for Model 2 (Figure 1b). Furthermore, ERI affirmation moderated the association between online discrimination and critical motivation (Figure 2). Specifically, youth with high levels of affirmation demonstrated a negative association between online discrimination and critical motivation, b=-.18, SE=.05, p<.001; whereas youth with low levels of affirmation exhibited a positive association between online discrimination and critical motivation, b=.35, SE=.04, p<.001.

These findings suggest that environmental stressors are associated with greater critical reflection and motivation. However, simple slope results suggest that among youth with high affirmation, more frequent discrimination may inhibit their motivation to address social inequities. Furthermore, youth with lower levels of affirmation demonstrated increases in critical motivation as their exposure to discrimination increased, which may suggest that their exposure to discrimination instilled a desire to remedy injustice, regardless of their feelings towards their ethnic-racial group.

Author information

Author	Role
Stefanie Martinez-Fuentes, University of Arizona	Presenting author
Katherine H. Zeiders, University of Arizona, United States	Non-presenting author
Lindsay T. Hoyt, Fordham University, United States	Non-presenting author
Antoinette Landor, University of Missouri, United States	Non-presenting author
Ada Wilkinson-Lee, University of Arizona, United States	Non-presenting author

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